I can't control the reflex I get to roll my eyes everytime this kind of thing pops up. I mean I think what no one seems to really think about is as an artist, you are always going to draw what stimulates you, and I mean that not in a sexual way, but something that catches your eye and interests you. Something that makes the chemicals in your brain swirl a little. I mean I think we are getting a little bit high and mighty consider we're talking about literally the pro-wrestling of printed entertainment. And I don't mean to say that comic books are artistically lacking, far from it in fact, but as someone who likes to draw, be it men or women, there is a very large tendency to draw women for example in a way that I find attractive, or men in a way that I find cool, which is first and foremost subjective in nature, and probably a bit primal as well. And that's just me speaking about my tendencies as an artist.
I remember there was quite hilarious stand up act by an African-American comedian maybe 10 years or so ago (I don't remember who it was and I'm not sure how much fame he reached, but he had this one joke where he was traveling through the super market with his father who was pointing out how racist all the food was. "look at these olives, the green olives are in a jar, but the black olives are in a can, Why do you have to lock the black olives up?!" admittedly hilarious, but also illustrates a good point that sometimes we go looking, and expecting this kind of thing to appear and when we try hard enough, low and behold it does!
When I look at this variant cover I see one of those kinds of drawings where a more abstract artist does his take on a comic character, where it's not so much sexual as it is his particular style of drawing the female form which is neither realistic or very comic book like for that matter.
With that being said, it's not like he is creating an unrealistic standard of beauty, or objectifying the character in any real way that I can tell. She's not being used as background art, she isn't chopped up and in a refrigerator, she doesn't have some kind of sexual expression on her face, she isn't being kidnapped by Bowser, and even more over, she isn't dressed exactly like her male counter part. Where is she setting back women? Because her tights are revealing her form quite a bit? Have you guys seen the yoga pants sub reddit?
Those yoga pants reveal quite a lot on their own, so what are you gonna blame this girl for? Keeping up with the trends? Having a kinda weird shaped posterior?
Equality is not a "wack a mole" game, you don't get points for bopping people every time they step out of what seems to me to be an extremely blurry line.